History is written by the victors. Except in the Middle East, where victories can be pyrrhic and wounds self-inflicted.

So it is with Israel's traumatic relationship with the Palestinians as described in "The Gatekeepers," by six men who oversaw the Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet - which defends the country against internal and external terrorism - from 1980 through 2011.

The six - Ami Ayalon, Avi Dichter, Yuval Diskin, Carmi Gillon, Yaakov Peri and Avraham Shalom - have never been interviewed before, and their frighteningly candid observations are a disheartening summary of the push-me-pull-you war on terror with global implications.

They also are a riveting firsthand account of how legitimate security concerns can lead to policies considered extreme and even immoral by the people administering them. Their shockingly intimate commentary puts a human face on complex policies normally seen in abstract and absolute terms.

The six men were weapons of the state, wielded by leaders whose inconsistent policies they questioned only after leaving government service and which encouraged foment outside its borders and within.

On the Israeli side, human intelligence and targeted assassinations of terrorist leaders became a dependence on technology that caused collateral damage. On the Palestinian side, spontaneous protests calcified into suicide bombers and Islamic Jihad.

"We wanted security and we got more terrorism," says one of the Israelis. The Palestinians "wanted a state, and they got more (Israeli) settlements."

Meanwhile, right-wing orthodox rhetoric by radicals with government connections and "a mystical belief in Armageddon" escalated into the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and led to the collapse of the peace process to this day.

While any objective observer might describe the situation as mutually assured destruction, one of the Israelis explained that a Palestinian acquaintance said they measured victory in the amount of the suffering Israel endured.

The interviews - woven together to create a historical narrative of Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967 - are in and of themselves a remarkable and riveting document. But Israeli director Dror Moreh supports the commentary with archival news footage, unseen in the West, of pivotal events that barely merited a footnote here or were quickly forgotten if they did, and digital enhancements to illustrate points made or scenarios described. The techniques resemble Errol Morris' Oscar-winning "The Fog of War." "The Gatekeepers" was also nominated for an Oscar.

But the only hope it offers is that the regret, perspective and rational self-awareness of the men portrayed is contagious.

Email: ddudek@journalsentinel.com

The Gatekeepers *** 1/2

Behind the scenes: Produced by Estelle Fialon, Philippa Kowarsky and Dror Moreh. Written and directed by Dror Moreh.

Rated: PG-13; violent content, disturbing images. In English and Hebrew with English subtitles.